1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engagement fitting used as a locking device striker for an opening-and-closing body (e.g., door) of, for example, a vehicle interior, an engine compartment, a trunk, or the like of an automobile; and a method of manufacturing the engagement fitting.
2. Description of the Related Art
With reference initially to FIGS. 25 and 26, an “engagement fitting” generally is paired with an engagement pawl that is controlled by a device, such as a key and a lever. The engagement fitting can be made by bending into a U-shape a rod (e.g., a steel rod member), the cross-sectional shape of which is either circular or square. The engagement fitting can include an engagement pestle 2 that extends in a horizontal direction and legs 3 that extend from both ends of the engagement pestle 2. The ends of the legs 3 can be coupled to an engagement plate 5 by welding or the like (see JP-REI-H06-312670 and JP-A-2002-337743).
However, in addition to a bending process used to form the engagement pestle 2, processes are required for press-forming the engagement plate 5, which is made of a flat bar or the like, and for welding the engagement pestle 2 to the engagement plate 5. In addition to requiring a number of steps, the manufacturing method requires a number of distinctly different types of processes. Therefore, the manufacturing process is fairly complicated and fairly costly.
To remedy these problems, JP-A-H07-220345 suggested deforming the engagement plate to form the engagement pestle. However, because the engagement pestle is formed of a layer from a couple of board members, the board members have to be joined together, which somewhat complicates the manufacturing method.